Which nation is The Gatekeeper in international football?

[FrankFoot]

What makes Belgium better than Czechia, Sweden or Denmark apart from recency bias?

Belgium is better than Czechia... why? Because we are not talking about Czecoslovakia, we are talking about Czechia.

The extinct Czecoslovakia NT is obviously better than Belgium NT, Czechia isn't.

Yugoslavia and the USSR are also better than Belgium historically, Serbia and Russia/Ukraine are not.

 

[Sky1981]

England is always treated like some strong nation, the big boys, while statistically they've achieved very little. That 1966 alone

So yes.. it feels weird... As if they're the gate keeper

 

[rcoobc]

Group Phase Gate Keepers - Switzerland, Serbia & Mexico
First/Second Knockout Gatekeepers - England , Croatia, Hungary, Sweden
The actual top 5 (Spain to join within a few years) - France/Brazil/Spain/Argentina/Germany

 

[Glorio]

Surely England has to be the gate keeper? You beat them and it's big news. If you outperformed them consistently, one would think you'd start getting considered as a respectable team.

 

[Real Name]

Group Phase Gate Keepers - Switzerland, Serbia & Mexico
First/Second Knockout Gatekeepers - England , Croatia, Hungary, Sweden
The actual top 5 (Spain to join within a few years) - France/Brazil/Spain/Argentina/Germany

Italy?

Based on success, world cups and euros /Copa americas top tier should be Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina and Uruguay.

Spain and France top of tier 2 imo.

 

[Oranges038]

Couldn't think of a good country so I just invented my own, the USSR.

 

[KirkDuyt]

Group Phase Gate Keepers - Switzerland, Serbia & Mexico
First/Second Knockout Gatekeepers - England , Croatia, Hungary, Sweden
The actual top 5 (Spain to join within a few years) - France/Brazil/Spain/Argentina/Germany

Surely Spain is there already? They won 3 tournaments in a row and have always had great teams after (and before though less successful). Hungary on the other hand fell out if you ask me. They've been shite for ages.

 

[massi83]

Belgium is better than Czechia... why? Because we are not talking about Czecoslovakia, we are talking about Czechia.

The extinct Czecoslovakia NT is obviously better than Belgium NT, Czechia isn't.

Yugoslavia and the USSR are also better than Belgium historically, Serbia and Russia/Ukraine are not.

A little different as about 70% of players came from Czechia. And if you want to look only from 1993 onwards the records are pretty much equal to Belgium.

 

[AlexiV]

The absolute power houses are Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain and Italy if you ask me.

I know you’d rather but don’t forget Germany. Spain can be considered buts needs another wc to confirm.

 

[Galactic]

You’re just looking for the best of the rest of the elites. But this is “seasonal” really.

 

[KirkDuyt]

I know you’d rather but don’t forget Germany. Spain can be considered buts needs another wc to confirm.

Ah no Germany is definitely in there, I actually forgot. They're se7ond only to Braz1l I'd say.

 

[AlexiV]

Ah no Germany is definitely in there, I actually forgot. They're se7ond only to Braz1l I'd say.

 

[Globule]

I had a look to see if there's a team that consistently makes the knockouts of the world cup but gets beat by the eventual winners/finalists, but it does seem pretty spread out. Portugal, Croatia, England would be my shout.

 

[D. Grayson]

Dolph Ziggler or Hirooki Goto

 

[phelans shorts]

Dolph Ziggler or Hirooki Goto

He isn’t worthy of having his name put in the same sentence as Goto

 

[giorno]

Spain used to be the definition of a gatekeeper. Then the Xavi-generation happened and now they're treated as a top side, even when they're not

Netherlands aren't consistent enough in their results, England might be the best candidate, even with their recent 4th and 2nd place finishes which are above what a gatekeeper should achieve...

 

[rcoobc]

Italy?

Based on success, world cups and euros /Copa americas top tier should be Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina and Uruguay.

Spain and France top of tier 2 imo.

Yeah to be fair Spain and Italy are in there

 

[D. Grayson]

He isn’t worthy of having his name put in the same sentence as Goto

I had to throw something in there for the casuals

 

[AlPistacho]

I didn't know this. I'm happy that I chose a good term then!

Isn’t gatekeeper the one who keeps others out?

Maybe for what you’re looking for you have “benchmark” so France would be the ultimate benchmark that teams with ambitions to win would want to surpass to measure against.

Then maybe Holland would be the KO benchmark, a team that usually gets to the KO stages maybe even the QF/SF teams like Croatia, maybe England (with Southgate) might try to measure themselves against that.

 

[Fortitude]

Would go for England. Never expected to beat the actual favourites; always a name for those expected to win to claim as a 'scalp' or set themselves up for bigger things.

Holland, Croatia and Spain are more about generations and crop - when they have big names in the side, they're elevated, but outside of that, they don't carry the same weight as beating England, who nobody cares what generation it is as they are always a scalp because of their league and being the supposed mecca of the game.

 

[arnie_ni]

Too many top nations in your post. You could argue England Netherlands and Uruguay could all drop off. England or Netherlands could be your "gate keeper" then